Conference Papers
Session H1.1 The health of young people
1. Jessamy Bath: Measures of Wellbeing for Indigenous Children
Given the long-lasting effects of childhood on wellbeing across the lifecourse it is important to understand the distribution and determinants of a range of Indigenous child wellbeing indicators. Childhood experiences and exposures are likely to be key determinants of wellbeing later in life. Nurturing children in their early years is therefore vital to overcoming the worst effects of disadvantage. Quantitative data on the subjective wellbeing of Indigenous children is lacking due to difficulties associated with collecting this information from children. As a result, all of the major social, health and other surveys conducted by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) and other agencies with information on Indigenous children obtain that information from the child’s carer. While this means the child’s own voice and subjective feelings are absent from these data collections, there is a range of detailed information on Indigenous children in the most recent National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Survey (NATSISS). Analysis of the 2008 NATSISS highlights the diversity of demographic, socioeconomic and cultural factors associated with Indigenous child wellbeing. Focusing on three broad dimensions of child wellbeing (health, education and learning, and language and cultural maintenance) the findings reveal child outcomes vary substantially across age, remoteness (and to a lesser extent gender), and are associated with characteristics of the child’s carer and the dwelling in which they live.
Author bio: Jessamy Bath is currently a Research Assistant at the Centre for Aboriginal Economic Policy Research (CAEPR) at the Australian National University. Since commencing this position in March Jessamy has been working alongside other CAEPR researchers on the Indigenous Population Project which aims to explore the dynamics and regional geography of Indigenous population and socioeconomic change. In 2010 she graduated from the University of Tasmania with First Class Honours in Sociology. Working under the supervision of Indigenous academic, Associate Professor Maggie Walter, her honours thesis explored the social determinants of Indigenous health using recently released data from the Longitudinal Study of Indigenous Children (LSIC). In December 2010 Jessamy completed an Internship at the Cape York Institute for Policy and Leadership in Cairns. During the internship she was responsible for evaluating an Indigenous ranger program and contributed to research into carbon and ecosystem service opportunities for the Indigenous people of Cape York.
2. Carrington Shepherd: Socioeconomic disparities in health among Indigenous children in Western Australia
The pattern of association between socioeconomic factors and health outcomes has primarily depicted better health for those who are better off – that is, health follows a social gradient. While this is a ubiquitous finding in the health literature, little is known about the interplay between these factors among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander (ABTSI) populations. This is somewhat surprising because a robust evidence-base in this field is fundamental to processes that aim to reduce the pervasive disparities between Indigenous and non-Indigenous population health. This presentation aims to provide insights into SES/health patterns by examining socioeconomic disparities in physical health outcomes among ABTSI children in Western Australia.
Author bio: Carrington is currently a senior analyst at the Telethon Institute for Child Health Research (TICHR) and engaged in a PhD study program. Both of these roles have a focus on the wellbeing of Indigenous Australians, and make use of population-level datasets to examine the social determinants of child and youth health. His research interests also include Indigenous identification in linked administrative datasets, and the use of these data to investigate intergenerational determinants of health. He was previously the manager of the National Children and Youth Statistics Unit at the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS), and his publication highlights include the Western Australian Aboriginal Child Health Survey (WAACHS) volumes and the Overcoming Indigenous Disadvantage in Western Australia report.
3. Ruth Nicholls: The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Performance Framework'